


For a Loop

by EllaBesmirched (El_Bell)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Erwin is a baby gay disaster, Hanji and Mike are the best best friends, High School AU, Intercrural Sex, M/M, Modern AU, Oral Sex, Theme Park AU, stubborn clueless Levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:23:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/El_Bell/pseuds/EllaBesmirched
Summary: Levi has never been to a theme park before. He supposes it isn't so bad, except for the strange golden haired boy who won't leave him alone.Erwin had intended to spent this year's Physics Day having a casual good time with his friends at his favorite theme park; he certainly hadn't intended to fall instantly in love with the most beautiful boy he's ever seen. It's really very unfortunate that that boy wants nothing to do with him.





	For a Loop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [memoirs_of_a](https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoirs_of_a/gifts).

There were few things more fucked up, Levi thought, than sticking a bunch of high school students in a shittin theme park and telling them to do complex math problems. The whole concept reached a level of downright cruelty when one considered that one such high schooler had never been to a theme park once in his whole goddamn life. 

Sure, Levi had _driven by _before. He’d peered wide eyed and slack jawed through the window when he was a kid and watched a bright yellow cart crest an orange rail, heard the joyous screams if the car window was down at just the right time. But he’d asked Kenny to go once when he was too stupid to know better and listened to Kenny laugh at him for a solid five minutes before he said theme parks were for rich babies and was Levi a fuckin’ rich baby?

Levi was not a rich baby. So much so that when Pixis had handed out the permission slips Levi had balled his up and thrown it away on the way out of class. He’d come into school this morning fully prepared to do what he did every other time his schoolmates had a field trip: sit in the classroom with the one kid whose parents were too religious to ever let them do anything fun and watch old Bill Nye episodes ironically with a bored substitute. 

But as all the students were filing out to get onto the buses, Pixis had met Levi’s eye and held up a slip that, upon closer inspection, was very clearly signed by Kenny. 

“No, he-- I mean I didn’t--” Levi started to say. He hadn’t paid the fee. But Pixis looked at the slip, then at his list, then back at Levi, handed him a thick packet of school work, and urged him out the door. 

Hanji had been overjoyed. They’d begged Levi to go, had even offered to pay the stupid fee, but of course Levi had refused. So when he wandered onto the bus that morning trying to figure out how he was going to pay for lunch outside the school cafeteria, Hanji had stood up in their bus seat and started yelling at him.

“Okay, so you go ride first and I’ll time it,” Hanji said, pointing at the carousel. 

Levi narrowed his eyes. “I’m not riding the fuckin’ carousel, four eyes.” 

“We have to!” they exclaimed, pointing at the directions for the problem they were working on in their physics pamphlet. “Look, it’s in the book.” 

“Just do the fucking problem, fuck,” he groused. He knew Hanji could do every single problem here just by _looking _at the damn rides. They didn’t actually need to _ride _them. 

Hanji wrinkled their nose at him. “Well, what are you gonna do?” 

Levi rolled his eyes. The fact was, he had a weirdly innate talent for physics, even if he was shit at most other subjects. All the shit in the book about _feeling what your body does _when the rides dropped and swung in circles and shit-- Levi was pretty sure he could wing it. At least enough to look like he gave a shit without actually giving a shit. He was pretty sure there was no way Pixis was gonna grade a hundred of these stupid pamphlets anyway. Everyone knew _Physics Day _was just an excuse for the park to shut down and get a bunch of high school kids with their mommy and daddy’s credit cards through the front gate. 

The fact was, if Levi really thought about it, he was pissed Pixis had gone behind his back like that, called Kenny without asking. If Levi had paid his own way, maybe he’d have felt better about everything, but as it was, the sight of all the happy teens laughing and jostling one another and rushing toward their favorites rides-- and yes, sitting on the ground doing physics problems while they watched the rides run-- was pissing Levi off. 

Hanji groaned and said, “Ah, _fine, _can we at least _ride something _then?” 

Levi scowled. They’d been walking around for an hour with Levi grousing about the lines and how Hanji could do what they wanted but _he _wasn’t getting all hot and bothered to stand around and wait an hour for a dumb ass coaster ride that would be over in three minutes. 

He was. Probably being a major asshole. 

“Yeah, fine, whatever you want.” 

Hanji’s face split in a manic grin and they immediately started shoving Levi toward the log ride. It was getting hot, the line wasn’t _too _long yet, and it was right next to the carousel, so Levi didn’t complain too much. 

“I loved this one when I was a kid,” Hanji said. “Don’t you have a favorite?” 

Levi scowled. “We didn’t go to stupid ass theme parks, Hanji, I’ve never been on one of these things before.” 

“Wait. _Never?” _

“Nah. Why’m I gonna pay like eighty bucks a ticket to stand in line all day? ‘S fucking dumb.” 

Hanji’s grin got even more crazed and they pushed Levi into line. 

And then they _stood _there. 

Levi glared at Hanji. “This is fun, right? This, right here, this is fun?” 

“Oh, stop,” they demanded, pushing their glasses up on their nose. “We can work on some of the easier problems,”’ they added, waving their pamphlet. 

Levi shrugged, and nodded, buried his nose in his workbook. 

The line moved quickly enough though. And once they were _here, _Levi actually found he didn’t so much mind the mindless shuffle forward. He peered absently around him while Hanji scribbled numbers down like a mad person, and took in some unfamiliar faces, started to categorize the various types of people from each school. 

They’d all been given color-coded t-shirts with their school’s name and logo and mascot on the back. Levi and Hanji were dressed in green, the group of kids in front of them in red, and in front of _them, _Levi spotted a flash of white that made him look a little closer since he hadn’t noticed anyone wearing white yet. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised. The moment he started paying attention, the biggest guy there, a true mountain of a man with shaggy blond hair and arms as thick as Levi’s thighs, turned so Levi could see the uppity coat-of-arms logo of the private school on the edge of town. No wonder Levi hadn’t seen anyone in white yet-- there were probably fifty kids max in the whole graduating class, and Levi doubted _all _of them took physics. 

Fuck, even thier t-shirts looked expensive. They draped differently than the stiff cotton blend of Levi and Hanji’s shirts, looked softer. 

There was a little group of them, all laughing and smiling at each other and they looked…

They looked more like TV high schoolers than actual honest teenagers. They were all too pretty, too put together. The big one looked like he could be an action TV star. There was a gorgeous brunette with her head on the shoulder of a lanky, angular boy with short brown hair and the kind of goatee that only dumb teenagers wore before they realized they couldn’t grow facial hair. There was a tall-ish, solid looking girl with short blond hair, leaning against the hand rail. And they were talking to a fifth person, a tall broad shouldered boy with perfect golden hair who should have been the biggest guy there if not for his friend fucking up the bell curve. 

He turned when the skinny one shoved him on the arm, and Levi caught him in profile-- a strong, romanesque nose, an unfairly sharp jaw, heavy brows. Clear skin. A golden shadow across his chin. 

He looked like a fucking movie star. 

He looked like a hot movie star. 

That distinction was important, a _hot _movie star. 

His arms were-- they barely fit in his t-shirt. In fact, he probably needed a size bigger than he was wearing because Levi could follow the shape of his chest, tapering down to a trim waist, and the fabric was thin and flattering in a way that cheap t-shirts just _weren’t _and he--

“What are you staring at?” 

Levi blinked, eyes snapping to the dark-haired guy with his arm thrown around the pretty girl. She was standing very close to the greek statue of a man Levi had been shamelessly admiring and and it probably looked like-- 

She half scowled, half pouted at him, and the guy hugging her said, “Yeah, you,” and snapped his fingers. 

The other two boys turned and looked at Levi now (and fuck why were they _both _hot, shit--) and the bigger one gave Levi a rather a intimidating stare while the hotter one (yeah, he was absoluetly the hotter one, goddamn, that _nose) _frowned a little in concern. 

Levi shrugged and turned his back to them. He assumed that would be that, but he heard the brunette say petulantly, and not at all quietly, “Little creep.” 

“He was staring at you?” one of the blond boys asked; Levi couldn’t see which one.

Hanji looked Levi in the eye and gave him a questioning look. Levi didn’t say anything, just rolled his eyes. 

“He was probably just zoning out,” a third voice said, and it was deep and rich and smooth and Levi just _knew _it belonged to the Hot One. 

Levi stuck his nose back in his workbook and tried to lose the strain of their conversation in the general ambient noise of the park.

It mostly worked. They moved along toward the ride and the group of pretty private school shitheads didn’t bother Levi and Hanji again. Levi thought it would just be one very obnoxious blip in a day that was probably more stressful than he needed to make it, until they got to the front of the line, where it split into eight short lanes.

The group of private school kids all split toward the two front lanes, and Levi followed Hanji into the line behind them. The carts seated four, and Levi tried not watch out of the corner of his eye as they filled up one cart and left the Hot One standing in the lane next to Levi and Hanji’s, waving his friends on while they pretended to feel bad that he couldn’t fit. 

The Hot One leaned against the rail, and produced a packet from his back pocket which he started rapidly scribbling in while he waited. He spared Levi one polite, if guarded glance, and Levi tried very hard to look anywhere else. 

“Hey, does this look right to you?” Hanji demanded, shoving their packet under Levi’s nose while they waited. 

Levi looked down at the hastily scribbled jumble of numbers and letters and said, “Fuck, I dunno.” He glanced at the packet. “Sure, yeah.” 

“Really?” Hanji said, chewing on their pencil. “Because it just doesn’t _feel _right. I--” 

They both went silent at the same time when they realized a very tall, very blond presence was leaning over the guardrail and into their space. 

Hanji looked at Levi, and then adjusted their hand so they could show the kid their workbook. 

He smiled. 

He fucking smiled and it was like a goddamn toothpaste ad, what the _fuck--_

“You wrote eight there, but then you wrote six there,” he said pointing. 

Hanji said, “Oh, fuck, yeah, thanks.” They yanked their pamphlet back and started erasing things as the next set of carts pulled up.

Levi looked up at the Hot Toothpaste Movie Star and then back down again when he gave Levi a smile that was tinged at the edges with just a hint of uncertainty. Levi shoved his hands in his pockets and scuffed the toe of his boots against the ground. 

“Cool shoes.” 

Levi blinked and looked up in surprise. 

He _did _have cool shoes. Or at least he thought they were-- they were an old pair of Docs he’d found at the thrift store for a truly ridiculously low price that made him think the thrift store people didn’t know what Docs were since they’d been in relatively good shape for a used pair of boots. Levi also had small feet for a dude, so maybe it was just that no one else had wanted them, but they were one of the few things Levi owned that he actually _liked _wearing. Which was probably why he’d worn them to a theme park in eighty five degree weather. 

So it wasn’t that Levi was surprised someone liked his shoes so much as that _this particular _guy did. 

“Uh. Thanks.” 

The dude smiled again. 

He smiled again and Levi decided to hate him with every fiber of his being because it was really the only way to deal with a guy that just _smiled _like that, like it was no big deal, what the _fuck-- _

The gates keeping dumbasses from getting run over by incoming rollercoaster carts opened up, and Levi and Hanji shuffled forward, Hanji still scribbling on their pamphlet. 

They both sat down in the front row of their cart, and then Levi heard that deep, smooth voice say, “Hey, you want me to put that in my bag so it doesn’t get wet?” 

Hanji and Levi turned to face the kid, who was standing on the other side of the carts now, holding the bag he’d had slung over his shoulder. 

Hanji smiled so wide their eyes crinkled. “Yeah, thanks! Levi, where’s yours?” 

“In my back pocket, it’s fine,” Levi grumbled. 

“Hey, it’s no problem,” the kid said. 

“Erwin! Sit the fuck down, let’s _go!” _

The kid turned his head, smiling, toward the back of coaster, where the carts that had just finished the ride were waiting to offload, and cheerfully flipped someone off.

“Come on, you don’t want your work to get wet,” the guy-- Erwin, his name was Erwin, and that was a stupid fucking trustfund kid kinda name and not a word that should make Levi’s cheeks feel so stupid and hot and-- said with another gleaming smile. 

Fuck. 

“Thanks,” Levi grumbled, pulling his packet out of his back pocket, because now they were holding up the line and Levi really just wanted _Erwin _to sit down so Levi could stop looking at him. 

Erwin accepted Levi’s pamphlet, put it safely in his bag, stowed the bag in a little cubby near the ride exit, and got in behind them. 

And then the ride was off, drifting smoothly down a narrow, water filled track. It reached a hill, clicked into place, and started clanking upwards with loud, regular clacking noises, and Hanji said goadingly to Levi, “Nervous?” 

“Fuck, no,” Levi said with a scowl, even though he _was _actually a little disconcerted by being ratcheted up a steep hill like this. 

“You have to put your hands up when we go down the hill,” Hanji said. 

“What, why?” 

“Because it makes it more _fun--” _

“Best part,” Erwin chimed in. 

Hanji turned and said conspiratorially, “He’s never been on to a theme park before, this is his first ride.” 

“What, seriously?” 

“Fuck off,” Levi said. 

“You shouldn’t have done this one first!” Erwin said, leaning forward a little in his seat. “You should have tried the--” 

Whatever he was planning on saying next was cut off as they crested the hill and dropped down the path. It made Levi’s stomach jump, and then they were floating along, banking turns, water rolling into the cart while Hanji and Erwin laughed and whooped and Levi convinced himself this wasn’t fun and he wouldn’t have enjoyed this when he was ten either. 

Levi was hiding a smile when they climbed off the ride, but he didn’t have to try very hard. Erwin’s friends were waiting for him, leaning against the railways that led out of the cart depot. Levi almost grabbed Hanji and rushed off until he remembered Erwin had their pamphlets. 

When he turned back to Erwin, his mouth went dry. 

Erwin’s shirt was wet, thin, so very transparent. Levi could count his abs. 

He drew up short, heat coming into his cheeks, and it took him a moment to realize Erwin was smiling at him as he dug Hanji and Levi’s school work out of his bag. 

“Thanks!” Hanji said with a grin. 

“No problem. Hey, you guys want to come ride the Drop Tower with us?” His eyes swung to Levi. 

“Erwin, my god, you’re so slow!” the big blond called before Levi could reply. 

“Oh, yeah,” Erwin said. He made a motion toward the exit gate and they all shuffled toward it. 

“I hate the Drop Tower,” Hanji said with a little frown. “But Levi might like it. Do heights freak you out?” 

“No, but--” 

“Levi?” 

Levi looked at Erwin. “Uh. Yeah.” 

“Erwin,” he said with another smile. Always with a smile. 

Levi just grunted, and then said, “Cool. But uh, we’re gonna meet some friends, so.” 

“Oh. Alright. Have fun. Try a real coaster next!” 

“Uh huh.” 

Erwin waved, then mingled with his friends while Levi rushed out of the ride and back onto the cobbled path. 

Hanji gave him a strange look. “What’s wrong with you? Meet what friends, did Petra text you?”

Levi eyed them, and then admitted, “If we stuck around much longer he was gonna catch me checking him out.” 

Hanji snorted. “They were all sort of _stupid _adorable.” 

“Assholes,” Levi complained. “Trustfund assholes.” 

Hanji made a conciliatory sort of face and said, “Yeah, I guess. _Erwin _seemed alright though. He liked your shoes,” they teased. 

“I’m ninty percent certain he was fucking with me,” Levi said a little quietly, peering down at his shoes. It had been a long time since anyone at _his _school had tried to screw with him like that, but Erwin didn’t know Levi’s reputation. Erwin didn’t know Levi would break his nose if he gave Levi sufficient enough reason to. 

“No, come on, they’re cool shoes!” Hanji protested. 

“Yeah, but you really think _he _thought so?”

Hanji looked suddenly uncertain. 

Levi crossed his arms over his chest, feeling vindicated, and said, “Yeah.” 

Hanji chewed their lip and said, “Well, _do _you want to go to the Drop Tower?” 

“You said you didn’t like it.” 

“You might,” Hanji insisted. “It’s that big green one, you go all the way up and you can see the whole park, and then you drop.” 

“Just up and then drop?” 

“Yeah.” 

Levi scowled. “That sounds lame.” 

“Erwin was right,” Hanji announced. “We should try a real coaster.” 

Levi let Hanji lead. They took Levi to the closest coaster, where they waited in line for forty five minutes before they reached the part where the line branched into different rows depending on which part of the cart they wanted to ride on. Hanji insisted they get in the front row, which was of course, the longest line, and they were standing there for about five minutes before Levi heard a deep, smooth, and very amused voice say, “Hey!” 

He felt his chest go hot and he turned his head. 

Erwin was standing one line over, in the slightly shorter path to the second row. His friends had filtered into other nearby paths and Levi realized Erwin was walking around with two couples and probably kept getting shoved into lanes by himself so they could sit together. 

Levi lifted his chin in greeting. Then he said a little begrudgingly, “How was the Drop Tower?” 

Erwin wrinkled his nose. “Mike’s too tall to ride.” 

Levi peered around Erwin and said, “That big blond motherfucker?” 

“Yeah,” Erwin said with a little laugh. “I think technically he could have gone, but it’s close. Like an inch.” 

Levi looked at Mike now, because it was easier than looking at Erwin. Mike was one lane down, and had both his arms flung over the shoulders of the woman with the short blond hair. While Levi was looking, he heard an annoyed voice say, “Yo, seriously?” 

Levi jerked back into his line. Erwin turned around. 

The last guy in Erwin’s party was staring at Levi, face twisted in disgust while his girlfriend glared. 

The blonde girl said, “What?” and looked around. 

“He’s fucking staring again, that’s the guy from the log thing, right?”

“No, no,” Erwin said quickly. “We were talking, I was saying Mike’s big ass couldn’t go on the Drop Tower.” 

Levi scowled. The whole little party was still looking at him. 

“Staring at Nan,” the brunet said. 

“You got the wrong idea, man,” Levi said. 

At the exact same time, Erwin said, “Don’t be a dick, Nile.” 

“I’m not being a dick, he’s staring at chicks, it’s creepy!” 

Levi shook his head in disbelief, laughed once, coldly, and then turned away. 

Hanji said, “He wasn’t,” but they spoke quietly, to Erwin. 

Erwin said, “I didn’t really think…” 

The line for the cart moved then, and Erwin and his friends climbed on while Hanji and Levi waited for the next cart. 

The second they were out of earshot, Levi muttered, “Fucking asshole.”

“He’s just trying to look cool for his girlfriend,” Hanji said reasonably. 

“He’ll look real cool when I knock his fucking teeth down his throat.” 

“You _could _just tell him why you were definitely one hundred percent without a doubt _not looking _at that chick.” 

“None of his fucking business,” Levi complained. 

“That’s fair,” Hanji said. “Oh, by the way, pay attention to what it feels like when we accelerate around the first turn, that’s one of our questions for this ride.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Levi said, waving his hand. 

The ride was…

Okay, it was fucking awesome. 

Instead of cranking them up a hill like the log ride had, and like most of the other coasters in the park, Hanji said, it shot them out of a dark black tube using rapid acceleration. Then they were plummeting down a steep drop, banking around sharp corners, spiraling down through a cave in pitch black darkness so they couldn’t see what came next. 

Levi’s heart was still pounding when he and Hanji stepped back out onto the main path and pulled out their packets to answer all the questions about the ride. 

They weren’t the only ones with that idea, because Erwin and his friends were all standing in a little cluster, talking through the relevant formulas. 

Or rather, they were asking Erwin questions and he was answering, or rewording the question with a hint embedded in his phrasing. 

Levi was just petty enough to admit he thrilled a little when Nile complained, “Wait, what? Say that again, I don’t--”

“Oh, hey, Levi!” 

Levi’s eyes jerked away from his paper to Erwin. His friends all went very quiet, staring at him, and Levi wiped the happy smirk off his face, stomach souring immediately. 

“How was it?” 

Levi swallowed and said, “Yeah. Alright, I guess.” 

Nile hissed at Erwin, “Are you seriously--” 

But then Mike, who looked at Levi, and then at Erwin, and then at Levi, and then Erwin again, smacked him on the arm, and said, “Shut the fuck up.” 

“But he--” 

Nan shoved Nile now, and said, “_Stop.” _

Levi didn’t hear what happened next, because Erwin trotted over, and said, “If you liked this one, you should try the Cobra.” 

“Oh, I love that one,” Hanji announced. 

“It’s got this massive drop, makes your vision go white,” Erwin said. 

Levi shifted from foot to foot, felt painfully aware of the way all Erwin’s friends were looking at him, felt aware of his school logo on his green t-shirt and the holes in his black jeans, and muttered, “Cool.” 

And then because he was a fucking idiot, he said, “Do you--”

“Hanji!” 

Levi jerked around, jumped like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t when Moblit came sprinting across the path and threw his arm around Hanji’s back. “There you are! Hey, Levi!” 

Levi lifted his chin. Erwin and Moblit exchanged a wordless greeting and then Moblit said to Hanji, “I was just about to text you to meet up somewhere, can you help us with the questions about the Menacer, my math keeps coming up wrong.” 

Hanji grinned, utterly manic, and said, “Yeah. Did you go on it yet? Levi and I just got off.” 

“Nah, I was just about to get in line. Ride with me?” 

“Yeah, awesome. Levi, you wanna--” 

“Oh, come on the Cobra with us,” Erwin interjected. 

Levi blinked. 

Hanji looked at Erwin, and then back at Levi and said quickly, “That works, I can meet you at the clock tower in like an hour?” 

“Yeah, but--”

Moblit looked at Erwin now, and then at Levi, and when Hanji elbowed him in the gut, he said, “Yeah, clock tower in an hour!” 

They left before Levi could complain. 

Erwin smiled at him. 

Levi stood very still. 

Erwin frowned and then lowered his voice when he said, “Even Marie thinks Nile’s a dick half the time and she’s dating him. You can tell him to fuck off, it’s fine.” 

Levi was very tempted to say loudly, _Why are you being so nice to me? _but he bit his tongue. Even if it didn’t make sense. Even if he was fairly sure that he was about to be the butt of some kind of joke because these private school fucks didn’t know his reputation, didn’t know it was a very bad idea to fuck with him. 

What he actually said was, “Yeah. Alright.” 

“Great!” Erwin said. “Hey, guys, Levi’s gonna ride the Cobra with us. You know to apologize for Nile being such a dick!” 

Mike and Nan laughed. Marie still looked uncertain. Nile said, “Fuck you, Smith. At least if _I _check a pretty girl out I don’t make it so fucking obvious.” 

Marie said, “Oh, is that _so?” _

Nile said quickly, “Not that I would, babe.” 

Levi said _again, _“I _wasn’t._” And then because both girls were looking at him now, he added, “Really,” in a slightly gentler voice. “I was just kinda staring off, not trying to be a creep.” 

This seemed to endear him to the women at least, which he wasn’t particularly opposed to. Nile may have been a dick, but up close, Levi could see why they might have thought he was staring. Marie was classically beautiful in an unattainable-girl-next-door kind of way, with long brown hair that she kept out of her face with a head band, high-waisted jean shorts with her t-shirt tucked into them, and sandals that laced up over her ankles. Nan seemed like the type of girl who played volleyball or softball-- thick, defined muscles, loose-fitting jean shorts and sneakers, a simple, no nonsense kind of hair cut. Very pretty but in a way very different from Marie. 

Erwin said, “This is Mike, Nanaba--” 

“‘Nan’ is fine,” she said with a smile. 

“Marie, and you know Nile,” he added with a sharper expression than he had worn until now. “Levi said earlier this was his first real coaster, so I figured he could ride the Cobra with us,” Erwin explained. 

“First ride on the Cobra,” Mike said, voice suspiciously innocent. “Yeah, Erwin would love to see that.”

Nan’s smile got a touch sharper and she stepped on Mike’s foot, which Levi felt like he probably wasn’t supposed to see. When Levi looked over at Erwin, his cheeks were red and a pink flush was disappearing into the v-neck of his shirt. 

Levi tried not to grind his teeth, tried to pick out the exact way they were fucking with with him now. Because he was almost certain he was about to be the butt of a joke. 

“Let’s go then!” Mike announced, and they all started walking toward the next ride. 

Erwin said casually and almost right away, “How’s your pamphlet coming?” 

Levi shrugged. “‘S fine. I doubt Pixis is gonna look at this shit anyway.” 

“Physics teacher?” 

“Yeah, he’s alright,” Levi said. “He said it was extra credit anyway, Hanji’s just a big fucking nerd.” 

Erwin looked at Levi as he walked and seemed to be affecting an overly casual air when he said, “So you don’t want the extra credit?” 

Levi looked at him and shifted a little, tried to think of how to say this without sounding like an asshole. “I’m. Not really worried.” 

“Oh,” Erwin said. Then he lowered his voice, dropped back just a hair, and said, “That’s too bad because I have the answer key.” 

Levi turned his head. 

Erwin added, “Between us.” He jerked his head at his friends and said in an even quieter voice, “They can use the practice.” 

“How’d you get--” 

“My dad’s the teacher,” Erwin explained. 

“So he gave you the--” Levi began feeling a burst of disgust for private schools and all their bullshit. 

Erwin shrugged. “I’m tutoring like half the class.” 

Levi said unthinkingly, “Nerd.” 

He almost cringed the moment he’d spoken. He didn’t know Erwin well enough to _tease _him. 

But Erwin said, “Yeah, you’re obviously way cooler than me.” 

And Levi couldn’t help but turn his head very slowly and try to pinpoint the sarcasm in Erwin’s voice. Except there really wasn’t any. 

Levi cleared his throat and said, “Oh, _yeah, _jock like you.” 

“Do people actually call people jocks and nerds and punks and shit where you go to school?” Erwin said almost curiously. “Because there’s about ten kids in my class so we all just have to kind of sit together.” 

Levi found himself….

Well. 

Charmed. Maybe. The guy was just so…

“Yeah, sometimes,” Levi said. 

“What do they call you?” Erwin asked. “Skater punk? _Goth?” _

He was still teasing, but Levi couldn’t help but look down at his clothes. He supposed he did kind of look… 

“They don’t call me anything,” he said, “They know better.” 

“Oo, they _know _better?” 

Levi blushed. He hated it, but he fucking blushed. He’d spoken without thinking, spoken something he wasn’t too keen on letting Erwin in on for some reason. 

“Forget it.” 

“What?” 

“Uh. Do you like. Play football, or whatever.” 

“No. Don’t change the subject!” he said. “What do you mean _they know better.” _Erwin’s eyes actually twinkled. They _twinkled, _what the _fuck-- _“You some kinda badass or something?” Levi bit his lip, and Erwin added, “Who takes _physics?” _

Levi cleared his throat. “I just. Don’t like the whole dumb clique thing. You really don’t play football?” 

Erwin smirked at him. “They disbanded our team my freshman year. Too many concussions. I play soccer and do crew though. And baseball in the spring.” 

“Crew, that’s the boat thing right?” 

“Yeah. What about you?” 

“Nah,” Levi said. “I don’t have time for after school shit. Job.” 

“Oh. Where. Where do you work?” 

Levi swallowed, shoved his hands in his pockets, and said, “My uncle works for this tow company, so. They pay me to clean the place a few times a week.” 

Erwin nodded and they both went silent and Levi wracked his brain for a way to escape, tried to remember exactly how and why he’d ended up here alone in the first place, when Erwin slowed down beside him. 

Levi lifted his head and found they’d reached the ride, and Mike was cheerfully climbing into the test harness, probably to make sure he wasn’t too tall to fit. 

Nile looked at the test harness, and then at Levi and said, “You sure you’re tall enough to ride this?” 

And Levi said without a second thought, “Tall enough to make you swallow your own tongue, shithead.” 

He almost choked on the last word, kicked himself for the spike of anger that made him forget these kids had never heard of him before, had no idea who he was, that he could be someone else entirely if he wanted to--

Mike laughed _very _loudly. Nile brisleted, Marie glared, and Nan said, “I _told _you to leave him alone,” in a sing-song told-ya-so kind of voice. 

“I have it on good authority Levi’s a badass,” Erwin announced, voice smug. “He’ll fuck you up.” 

Levi’s mouth went dry, stomach twisting in a big knot, and he didn’t know why he’d thought this wasn’t-- he wasn’t sure what he thought this was, but he wasn’t here to let some bratty fashion magazine hopeful with his daddy’s credit card fuck with him and _seriously--_

“Screw you,” Levi said. And he shoved his hands back in his pockets and turned to go. 

“Wait, what, no, I wasn’t--” Erwin started. 

Nile said, “Fuck are you doing, Smith, let him go, can we just get in line, please?” 

“You’re such a dick sometimes, Dok,” Nan said around a sigh. 

“He _threatened _me!” 

“You kinda deserved it,” Mike muttered. 

Then Levi was out of earshot and glad for it. He didn’t look back. He kept walking, just picked a direction and went, and tried to pretend he wasn’t extra specially pissed off by the entire thing. 

It was just--

For a second, Erwin had seemed kinda. 

Kinda cool. 

And like maybe he was even…

Which was stupid because guys like Erwin were not into guys like Levi. If they were even into guys at all. 

Guys like Erwin always had the best of the best. Best school, best clothes, best hair, best grades, best girlfriends. 

So guys like Erwin wanted _nothing to do _with guys like Levi. 

It was that simple. 

Levi wandered around for a half hour or so, did some of the problems in his workbook, tried not to be too pissed that he’d never gotten to come to a place like this when he was a kid, and also tried not to be too happy to be here now. He rode a ride by himself and didn’t feel like he needed to pretend not to enjoy it. 

When he met back up with Hanji-- and Moblit and Petra and Eld-- he told them Erwin turned out to be a shithead after all and left it at that. 

Hanji frowned, but they didn’t push him. 

They ate lunch, and then got in a line that looked like a big castle. 

“Is this a roller coaster?” Levi said uncertainly, looking at the big fake stone walls. 

“It’s a four dee ride,” Petra said. “You sit in a cart and wear glasses, like for a three dee movie. It’s fun!” 

“I love these,” Hanji announced. 

The line went fast, and when they were once again in the little depot where the main line split and they could all choose a cart, Levi heard someone nearby clear his throat. 

“Fuck, seriously?” Levi groused. 

“It’s almost like you’re following me,” Erwin said. 

“Fuck off,” Levi told him. 

The line inched forward. 

Erwin was standing in the line to Levi’s left. His friends were all in front of him, and probably hadn’t noticed yet that Levi was here. 

Erwin said, “I. I wasn’t trying to--” 

“I dunno what the fuck you want, man, leave me alone,” Levi snapped. 

Erwin went quiet. 

Mike said something then, and turned around, probably to talk to Erwin, but when he saw Levi he drew up short. Levi put himself against the other railing, slid up to talk to Hanji and used their body to block Erwin and his friends from view. 

Hanji noticed. And then Petra did too. She leaned into Levi’s space and said, ”That’s them?” 

“Just leave it,” Levi muttered. 

Petra scowled, but she didn’t say anything else. 

The line inched forward again. 

The carts fit four across, and all Levi’s friends filed into one before they turned and looked back at Levi, realized he wouldn’t fit with them. 

“It’s cool, I’ll meet you,” Levi said waving them off. 

When the next cart pulled up, Levi climbed in, and the attendant looked at him in palpable boredom before he turned back to the line and said, “Anyone? Party of three? Two?” 

The group behind Levi shook their heads, pointed at another lane they were probably trying to time up with. 

Erwin said, “I’ll go,” and stepped out of his lane. His friends had already loaded into the cart behind Levi. 

Levi thumped his head against the side of the cart as Erwin slid in beside him, and the attendant closed the door. 

They sat unmoving and silent for a beat before the cart started forward and began a slow journey to the start of the ride. 

Erwin said, “I wasn’t trying to make fun of you. Mike said you thought I was making fun of you. I wasn’t.” 

“Whatever, man,” Levi grumbled. “Can we just…” 

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

Once the ride actually started, Levi could almost forget who was sitting beside him. There was loud music, jump scares, 3D arrows flying at their faces. It was kind of lame and kind of cool at the same time. 

After about five minutes, and a few rather startling little jerks of the cart, and visuals along with it, the cart ground to a halt. A video played, and fake fog rolled in, and then the cart jerked and went still again. The video-- the same video-- played. 

Levi looked around at Erwin. Erwin frowned a little, leaned forward to peer down the front of the cart. 

The video played for a third time. 

Behind them, Levi could hear Erwin’s friends start yelling, laughing, calling about the ride being broken. 

Levi muttered, “Shit, seriously?” 

A full five minutes passed before the video that kept replaying flickered off and a voice sounded in the cart speaker telling them to sit still and stay in the cart and they’d be off as soon as the ride was functioning again. 

Levi sighed. 

“Well, that _was _fun,” Erwin said.

Levi shrugged wordlessly. 

Erwin shifted in his seat. Then he mumbled, “This has never happened to me before.” 

“What?” 

“Stuck on a ride,” Erwin said. “You think they’d just open the doors and let us walk off,” he added, lifting his head over the tall side of the cart and peering around. This ride wasn’t like the coasters-- it was in a room, in a tunnel, and the rail was set into the ground.

“Probably some bullshit safety thing or something,” Levi said grudgingly. 

“Least we’re not stuck at the top of a rollercoaster, I guess.” 

“Sounds shitty,” Levi agreed before he remembered he hated Erwin and he was supposed to be making conversation difficult. 

“Pretty shit thing to happen your first time on these rides,” Erwin said. 

Levi grunted. 

“Hey, I really am sorry about-- like I really wasn’t trying to--”

“And what were you trying to do?” Levi demanded, twisting in his seat. “Cause I can’t figure out why you won’t just leave me alone.” 

Erwin bit his lip, cheeks very red, and then said, “I. You don’t have to be an asshole about it, I was just trying to be…” 

“_Be?” _

“Nice,” Erwin said quickly, very obviously not meeting Levi’s eye now. “I thought--” He stopped. “I dunno what I thought.” 

Levi gave him a sidelong glance, saw the set of his shoulders, the little crease between his eyebrows. 

“Nice.” 

“Yeah, nice,” Erwin said tightly. “You know. Meet someone. Not from my school.” 

Levi narrowed his eyes, not liking the way Erwin had said that, that _meet someone. _“Why would you want to do that?” 

Erwin sniffed and then said, “There’s sixty four kids in my class and I’ve known pretty much all of them since I was in the first grade.” He shrugged. 

He was still blushing very heavily however, which raised all Levi’s suspicions because he didn’t see why anything Erwin was saying was blush worthy. 

But. Still. 

“Sorry,” Levi mumbled. “I. Go to school with some assholes, so…” 

Erwin looked at him. “Nile was being an asshat-- But I really wasn’t-- I was, just, uh. Teasing.” 

Levi smiled. 

It happened very quickly and he forced it away as quickly as he could but it did happen and there wasn’t much use denying it. Erwin definitely saw. 

“I don’t like to be teased,” Levi told him. 

“Yeah, I see that,” Erwin said. And then he said, “Oh, hey, since we’re stopped do you wanna check your work on your packet?” 

Levi eyed him and felt himself smiling again and really what the fuck was up with that. “Nah, it’s cool.” And he wasn’t sure what possessed him to say this, really he wasn’t, but he added, “I’m kind of a whiz with this stuff.” 

Erwin smiled at him. “Really?” 

Levi shrugged. “Eh, it just makes sense. I don’t know why.” 

“Fair enough,” Erwin told him. 

“So what’s it like being a teacher’s kid?” 

Erwin shrugged. “Not so bad. I’m a good student, mostly, so it’s. Mostly the same, except sometimes the other teachers come over for parties or something.” 

Levi snickered. “That sounds fucking wierd, you’ve got your teachers just chillin’ at your house?” 

“Sure, why not?” And then he said, “You’re a senior, right?” 

“Yeah. Physics isn’t available to underclassmen at my school.”

“Cool,” Erwin said. “That’s not how ours work. Marie’s a junior.” 

“Ah, _that’s _why she’s dating such a tool.” 

Erwin snorted, and tried to stifle his reaction. Then he lowered his voice when he said, “I sorta think she’s trying to get back at me.” 

“What, like you dated?” 

“Yeah,” Erwin said, nodding. “For like six months last year.” 

“But you still hang out?” 

Erwin said carefully, “It’s not really her fault we didn’t work out, so.”

“Like it’s yours?” 

“Yeah.” 

“What’d you do?” Levi said, settling into the conversation in spite of himself, adjusting himself so he was more comfortable on this hard bench. 

Erwin swallowed and said, “Well, I didn’t really _do _anything, she’s just. Not. My type,” he said a little airily. 

“Gorgeous?” Levi demanded around a laugh. How fucking picky could this guy be?

Erwin’s voice went a little strange when he said, “You think so?” 

“I have eyes, don’t I?” Levi said, voice flat. 

Erwin said, “Shit, you _were _looking at her!” 

Levi scowled very sharply and suddenly, and snapped, “I’m gay, I was looking at you.” 

The cart was suddenly _ringingly _quiet. 

The slow creep of mortification left Levi’s cheeks burning, made his stomach jump, and he didn’t know what to say or do now, he was such an idiot, such a brash, ill tempered _dumbass _and they were _stuck _on this ride together, and for all he knew Erwin was the kind of son of bitch who’d get all pissy that a gay dude thought he was hot and--

Erwin’s shoulders sagged and he said, “Oh, thank god.” 

“Uh. What?” 

“Fuck, that was driving me crazy,” Erwin said, turning fully in his seat and staring Levi in the face. “I mean, I got a _vibe, _but I guess it could have been more of like, wishful thinking or--”

“Wait, what?” 

“Because I _thought _I saw you checking Mike out, but I wasn’t _sure, _and--”

“Erwin,” Levi said very slowly. 

Erwin cleared his throat. “Yeah?” 

“Have you been. Trying to flirt with me?” 

“Uh, yes, that would be a-- yeah.” 

Levi stared at him for a beat longer and then put his face in his hand. “Fuck, I’m an _asshole, _I thought you were _fucking _with me--”

“Why would I be--” 

“I don’t know, because you go to that fancy ass private school and you _look like that--_and, fuck, most of the kids at my school kinda hate me--” 

“Why?” 

“Because this popular shithead type grabbed Petra’s ass at this party and I knocked him out and then he couldn’t play our stupid fucking homecoming game with a concussion and we lost and everyone wants to act like it’s _my fault _that fucker put his hands on my friend--” 

“Wait, seriously? Who’s Petra? I thought your friend’s name was Hanji.” 

“Hanji, they’re the one with the glasses, Peta was the cute redhead I was in this line with.” 

“Oh. Well that’s bullshit.” 

“Yeah,” Levi mumbled. “But that was at the start of the year, and I guess I kinda. You know, got used to it. Or whatever. It wasn’t like they liked me much _before _either, so.” 

“Oh,” Erwin said. He looked toward the front of the cart. Things were quiet. 

Levi was wincing to himself, feeling like an absolute shithead slash oblivious idiot. He was also wondering why someone who looked like _Erwin _was even flirting with him to begin with when Erwin turned him and said very deliberately, “Hey, do you wanna make out?” 

When Levi just stared at him in shock, he blushed pink and added, “You just. Seem like the blunt type, so.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Yeah?” Erwin said, voice going high like he couldn’t believe Levi had actually agreed. 

Levi chuckled once in disbelief and said again, “Fuck. Yeah.” 

Erwin dropped his 3D glasses on the floor (he’d been holding them in his hand since the ride stopped) and leaned across the little cart, and Levi did the same at almost the exact same time. He’d never really done anything like this before but he’d be lying if he insinuated it didn't feel _incredibly _good. 

Anxious disbelief and pleased shock buzzed under his skin, made him feel like he was in a very particular kind of dream that didn’t fully make sense but was still thoroughly enjoyable. Erwin’s mouth was soft. The first kiss, despite how quickly Erwin had leaned into Levi’s space, was gentle and maybe even a little shy, and if Levi was going to kiss a stranger in a broken theme park tunnel _thing _he wasn’t going to do it _shy. _

He put a hand in Erwin’s hair, tugged him just a little closer, and opened his mouth, traced his tongue along Erwin’s bottom lip. The careful brush of Erwin’s tongue against his, when it came, was addictive. Erwin slid closer along the bench, until their knees were touching, so it didn’t feel like they were kissing over a tiny invisible barrier meant to keep them apart. 

And, really, Levi knew he was being brash and stupid and probably desperatly horny but there was just something about Erwin, something about the way thier lips slotted together that felt--

Well. 

Felt better than Levi thought it should. Felt. Natural. Felt. 

Levi wasn’t going to say ‘right.’ He _wasn’t. _

They broke apart and Levi wasn’t sure why, wasn’t sure what had prompted them both to end the kiss and take a deep, luxurious sort of breath. 

Erwin said so quietly Levi didn’t actually think he intended to speak out loud, “Wow.” 

Levi’s heart flipped over in his chest. “We’re pretty good at this.” 

Erwin said, “Uh huh,” and took Levi’s face in his hands. 

Things moved really rather quickly from there. 

Erwin put his tongue in Levi’s mouth. Levi put his hand high on Erwin’s thigh. Erwin ran his hand down Levi’s side, over his stupid green school shirt. 

Levi knew he was being a raging fucking dumbass. How stupid and desperate did he have to be to not only start kissing a stranger in a theme park, but to let that stranger touch him like this, to-- fuck, to touch a stranger like Levi _needed _to know what he felt like. 

It was dumb. He was being _dumb _but he’d just-- 

This felt too good. It shouldn’t feel this good. It shouldn’t feel like he’d known Erwin for more than a few hours. 

Erwin made a deep, _mmm _sort of sound and pulled away from Levi’s lips, kissed his jaw, a spot below his ear. 

Levi pushed him away with both hands on his chest, breathing hard. 

Erwin said, “Shit, did I--” 

“No, no,” Levi said quickly, taking another breath and shaking his head to clear it. “You--”

“Sorry,” Erwin said before Levi could gather his thoughts. “You’re--” And then he looked away from Levi very quickly and Levi raised his brows, all his tumbling thoughts slowing down so he could focus on Erwin. 

Erwin winced and said, “It’s nothing. We can keep--”

Levi said, “Have you _done this _before?” 

“I-- yes-- no-- have you?” Erwin demanded. 

Levi realized he should be more specific. “With _a boy.” _

Erwin winced again. 

Levi stared at him. 

“Not. There was this guy I went to summer camp with but that was like. I was like thirteen.” 

Levi stared at him some more. 

Erwin protested, “I thought maybe I was _bi, _I dated girls for a while, but uh.” 

Levi chewed on his lip. 

“Do we have to have a _discussion _because I think you’re hot?” Erwin demanded. “Because it’s not really something I need to talk about.” He blinked and added, “Unless you want me to.” 

Levi supposed that explained Erwin’s _enthusiasm. _Levi had just about come in his pants the first time he kissed a boy, so maybe Erwin was just…

Levi leaned toward Erwin again and Erwin sighed happily before he leaned down to meet him, and put his hands in Levi’s hair. 

He had big hands. They felt good. 

It was ultimately probably a very good thing that the ride started moving at that exact moment. Erwin sprung away from him, muttering, “Shit,” under his breath, and tugging on his jeans.

Levi agreed. “Fuck.” 

Erwin laughed once, breathlessly, and said, “Hang out with me.” 

“_Hang out,” _Levi said. 

“Come on, please? I like talking to you.” 

Levi laughed without thinking about it and said, “We weren’t _talking.” _

Erwin turned his head. “So don’t talk with me.” 

Levi chewed his lip. “If your friend fucks with me I’m gonna kick his ass.” 

Erwin rolled his eyes. “Just tell him he’s being a jackass, he can take it.” 

“Fine.”

“Uh. Shit, could you not. Mention…” 

Levi turned his head as the ride came to a smooth halt. 

Erwin lowered his voice and said, “Mike and Nan know, but. Nile and Marie don’t. Yet. So could you…” 

“Yeah. No problem.” 

Erwin sighed. “Good. I don’t-- it’s not that-- I just feel like I should tell Marie myself since… I mean, she was the last girl I…” 

“I got it,” Levi said. “It’s fine.” 

Erwin smiled at him. 

Levi had the very clear and disconcerting thought that he was in serious trouble here. 

~*~*~

He noticed him first on the way into the park. Generally, Erwin tried not to notice himself noticing guys, but he’d given himself room to pay attention since he’d come out to Mike over the winter. It all felt a little more natural after that, less like some awful secret he should pretend he could ignore. 

School was easy. Erwin knew everyone there and had for years, so he wasn’t often struck by the way _any _of them looked. They were friends, firmly outside the realm of people he was willing to check out-- or at least to admit he was checking out. Because Mike looked-- but he was _Mike _and Erwin sure as hell wasn’t going to admit that. 

So maybe he got used to not noticing. Maybe it had never occurred to him that on the way into the theme park he’d see a kid from Chika Central High the mere sight of whom would make Erwin’s chest feel too tight, make him trip and stumble into Mike. 

“Walk much?” 

Erwin laughed him off wordlessly, eyes still locked on the back of the boy’s head. 

He was small, probably only a few inches over five feet, and thin and. And graceful. The way he _moved. _The sheer physicality of him. Erwin wasn’t sure he’d ever noticed that before, in a person, the way they moved. But every step he took was so… 

He turned his head, said something to his friend. His expression was flat, ill tempered, and Erwin didn’t know why that was worse than if the boy had been smiling. He didn’t have the kind of face that seemed to smile often and Erwin had the thought that it would probably be nice if he did. 

Mike cleared his throat, and Erwin looked around, feeling his face get hot. Mike gave him a very knowing sort of look, and then rolled his eyes with a little smile. 

“Which one were you--” he started to ask, but then Nile sauntered over with Marie under his arm and said, “Hey, let’s hit the Waterfall before it gets hot and the line gets long.” 

“The fucking _Waterfall?” _Mike demanded. “You wanna go on the Waterfall first.” 

“I like that one,” Marie said, turning her nose up just a little. “I rode it with my dad when I was little, it was the only ride he liked to go on.” 

Nile gave Mike and Erwin a pleading look over Marie’s head and then Mike said, “Fine, but Nan wants a snack first, she skipped breakfast.” 

They all agreed, all waited for Nanaba to get out of the bathroom and then they wandered around for about an hour chatting and eating a funnel cake far too early in the day. 

Erwin tried to forget the boy he’d seen at the gate. He tried to pretend the boy’s face wasn’t seared into Erwin’s mind like a glowing brand, like he’d never _be able _to forget, no matter how hard he tried, which was utterly ridiculous because Erwin had only seen him for a few seconds at most. 

The moment he saw him again, Erwin froze. He froze like an _idiot _and wanted to look and thought he shouldn’t and tried to keep his back turned, tried to focus on what Mike was saying, except-- he was _looking over here, _Erwin could _just _see him out of the corner of his eye and he was staring--

_Nile, you absolute fucker--_

Everyone was _glaring _at the boy now, even Mike, and Erwin just _looked _because he’d been-- he’d been so sure the boy was looking at Mike. Or. Or maybe even…

Erwin tried to talk to him after that. 

He tried to remember what it was like to flirt with a pretty girl, but that had been easier. That had been so much easier and simpler because deep down Erwin had never really _cared _if they liked him back. 

This was so much harder than it should have been and.

Levi. His name was Levi. 

Levi. 

He wouldn’t meet Erwin’s eye. He scowled when Erwin talked to him. He grumbled. 

So far the only nice thing Erwin had been able to think of was _Cool shoes. _

_Cool shoes. _

Was he a _child? _Was he stupid? 

_Cool shoes? _What the fuck even was that--

Everytime he walked away, Erwin tried to forget him. The first time it happened, Mike caught Erwin alone, tried to get Erwin to tell him what he was frowning about, asked him why he’d asked that kid to come walk with them. Erwin wouldn’t tell him, but by the second time they ran into the kid, Mike figured it out. Because he was Mike. Because he could practically _smell _what Erwin was thinking. 

There was a moment there, a short, wonderful, heart soaring moment, when things seemed to be progressing in a way Erwin could be happy about. He told Levi he was _cool, _made it sound glib and off handed, a light hearted tease. He was good at those sometimes. And then they’d have to stand in line together and Erwin could talk to him for, for the next half hour-- they’d have nothing to do _but _talk and then a thrilling, adrenaline pumping roller coaster would--

Erwin was getting ahead of himself, obviously. He was still trying to figure out of if the kid was even queer. He had an. Idea. A sort of unnamable feeling. 

But it felt presumptuous and maybe even stereotypical. What if he was just guessing because Levi was small, or light on his toes, or… or something. 

Erwin was reaching, really. Levi was so agile, watching him move made Erwin’s mouth go dry, but he wasn’t-- there wasn’t anything about him that Erwin felt like he could grab onto and hold up as proof. 

Which was really all he deserved since he knew he wasn’t exactly a walking stereotype himself. 

Nile, massive fucker that he was, looked at Levi and said, “You sure you’re tall enough to ride this?” 

“Tall enough to make you swallow your own tongue, shithead.” 

Erwin was really going to murder Nile Dok. He was. 

It was also easier to think that than to acknowledge the hot thrill that twisted in his chest at the sound of Levi’s low, furious voice speaking those words.

Everyone reacted to that as Erwin might have expected. Mike laughed, Nan told Nile to let Levi be, Marie and Nile both looked at Levi like he’d sprouted claws and fangs. 

“I have it on good authority,” Erwin announced, injecting some humor in his voice to diffuse the situation, “Levi’s a badass.” He tried to do that thing Marie had liked, the eye twinkle thing that had let her know he was only teasing her. Except now he was looking at a very beautiful boy-- or-- young man-- with eyes like stormclouds who moved like water over time-slick stones, and-- “He’ll fuck you up.” 

And everything went to shit. 

Levi looked at Erwin like Erwin was a slimy dead thing stuck to the bottom of his shoe and stomped off, and Erwin’s friends didn’t understand, they pulled him along into line, didn’t let him follow. 

When the girls and Nile were occupied, Mike slid over to Erwin in the line and said, “Dude.” 

Erwin made some pathetic sound of acknowledgement. 

“What is going _on _with you today.” 

Erwin swallowed and looked at him and made a vague motion with his eyes toward the back of the line. 

“So you really like-- I mean you were trying to-- How do you know he, did he say anything, or--” 

“I don’t know,” Erwin admitted. “I just. Had a feeling.” 

“A feeling.” 

“Yeah, a feeling.” 

“A feeling like he’s hot?” Erwin looked at Mike with his brows raised and Mike said, “What? I don’t mean like, for _me. _I mean, I can recognize a good looking dude when I see one, I’m not stupid.” 

Erwin sighed, checked that Nile and Marie still weren’t paying attention, and then said, “I feel like a _dork.” _

“A dork.” 

“_A dork,” _Erwin insisted. “You should have heard me earlier, I said I liked his _shoes.” _

Mike bit his lip to hide a smile and said, “Aren’t you all supposed to be, like, _shoe people--” _

“Mike.” 

“I’m joking. I just mean. Shoes. That’s. Not so bad.” 

Erwin winced. 

“Admittedly,” Mike said slowly. “You’re usually a lot smoother…” 

Erwin huffed a frustrated sort of sigh and hissed, “Girls are so much _easier.” _

Mike gave him a strange look and then said, overly casual. “Are you. You know. You’re _sure _you’re…” 

Erwin glared at him. 

Mike said, “Just _checking.” _

They went quiet for a while, shuffled forward. 

“He thought you were making fun of him.” 

“_Why _would he think that?” Erwin demanded. “I was _smiling _at him.” 

Mike paused thoughtfully and then said, “He goes to _Chika Central. _It’s like the poorest school in the state.”

“So?”

“_So, _kids from Chika Central tend to assume _we’re _assholes.” 

Erwin cringed. He supposed that was true, actually. That it made sense. 

Erwin leaned thoughtfully against the railing.

“Look,” Mike said reasonably. “If you see him again, tell him you weren’t trying to be a dick. And if he still acts like a dick, then you’ll know you’re not the dick, he’s the dick, and he’s not worth getting all up in your feelings about.” 

“Yeah,” Erwin muttered. 

Erwin barely felt the ride. It was a tiny blip of distraction in a sea of very sudden and violent longing and of course he felt even more foolish for feeling _so _invested in the way a person he’d known for all of a cumulative twenty minutes felt about him. 

It got so bad that when Erwin noticed Levi in line for the Haunted Castle, he actually grabbed Mike’s arm. Mike made a face and very overtly engaged in conversation with Nan. 

When Erwin cleared his throat, Levi snapped, “Fuck, seriously?” which wasn’t a great sign.

Erwin blurted, “It’s almost like you’re following me.” 

“Fuck off,” Levi told him. 

Erwin went very still and quiet as the line inched forward. 

“I. I wasn’t trying to--” 

“I dunno what the fuck you want, man, leave me alone,” Levi spat at him, angular gray eyes flashing. 

Erwin stared helplessly after him when Levi slid up to talk to his friend and Mike turned around to hiss, “That wasn’t an apology, just say sorry!” 

“He doesn’t want to _hear--_” 

“Then fuck him!” Mike insisted, clapping Erwin on the back. “He’s an asshole.” 

Erwin wasn’t so sure, but he resolved to put Levi from his mind. That was, until the absolute perfect opportunity presented itself. And how could he resist that? 

He slid into the empty bench beside Levi, ignored the way Levi ground his teeth and hit his head against the side of the cart, and then said as confidently and as soothingly as he could muster, “I wasn’t trying to make fun of you. Mike said you thought I was making fun of you. I wasn’t” 

“Whatever, man,” Levi grumbled. “Can we just…” 

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

For a few minutes, Erwin felt like he’d snuck into heaven, like he was getting a glimpse of something he wasn’t supposed to be seeing. 

Levi was enjoying the ride. It was obvious, from the way he’d smirk when the effects were best, or jerk when a 3D arrow came flying at their faces. Erwin had been on this ride plenty of times before and he almost just turned his head to watch. He’d been right. Levi rarely smiled, but sometimes the shadow of the expression would flicker across his face and when it did, Erwin felt it in his bones. 

And like a gift from some very friendly, very gay gaurdian angel, the fucking ride _broke down. _

The ride _broke down _and Erwin was _stuck _in a dark tunnel in a high-walled cart with the most beautiful person he’d ever met in his life and all he could think to say was, “Well, that _was _fun.” 

Levi shrugged and didn’t look at him.

Erwin pressed on and mumbled, “This has never happened to me before.” 

“What?” 

“Stuck on a ride. You think they’d just open the doors and let us walk off.” 

“Probably some bullshit safety thing or something.”

“Least we’re not stuck at the top of a rollercoaster, I guess.” 

“Sounds shitty,” Levi agreed, finally, _finally _turning his head a little and looking at Erwin. He looked away very quickly but. That was progress at least. Maybe. Maybe Erwin could still--

“Pretty shit thing to happen your first time on these rides.”

Levi grunted, and stayed silent and Erwin decided he had one last ditch chance to find Levi’s good side.

“Hey, I really am sorry about-- like I really wasn’t trying to--” He should have thought this through, figured out exactly what he was going to say. He sounded like such a fool whenever he spoke today, when normally he was so eloquent.

“And what were you trying to do?” Levi asked him, voice low and furious as he finally, _truly _looked Erwin in the eye. Erwin felt dizzy. “Cause I can’t figure out what you won’t just leave me alone.” 

Erwin felt his cheeks get hot. He wanted to sink into the bench, wanted to melt away from this place now that he knew for sure-- but Mike was _right. _Erwin _hadn’t _done anything wrong, he’d only tried to be kind and if Levi didn’t see that-- 

“I. You don’t have to be an asshole about it. I was just trying to be…” “_Be?” _

_“Nice,” _Erwin insisted. “I thought--” And then he cut himself off, felt his cheeks grow even hotter. “I don’t know what I thought.” 

Levi actually… didn’t seem to hate that answer. 

And then they started talking.

They started talking and Erwin _thrilled _because there was no one around to interrupt, to give Levi the wrong idea, to _insult _him like Nile had. Erwin thrilled because alone, he wasn’t scared Nile or Marie would notice the way he was looking at Levi before he was ready for them to. He was certainly afraid _Levi _might not appreciate that, but it was. That was a risk he was maybe willing to accept for the moment, just so they could-- 

Levi smiled and Erwin felt it in his guts. Levi smiled and Erwin felt like he was falling through the hard bench. Levi smiled. Just for a moment. Just for one instant, and Erwin felt like no one had ever looked so beautiful. 

And with every brief word they shared the feeling only grew. Levi was beautiful. And he was also _smart. _Erwin had known, had sensed maybe, that there was an acerbic sort of wit hidden under the scowling, but to hear Levi admit he was good at physics, to hear him _deny the chance _to cheat on the assignment-- 

“She’s just... not. My type,” Erwin said airily, trying as hard as he could to test-- to ease into-- maybe if he said the right thing, maybe if Levi was-- maybe he’d _guess-- _

“Gorgeous?” Levi said with a laugh that made Erwin’s heart break and race at the same time. 

“You think so?” 

“I have eyes, don’t I?” 

“Shit, you _were _looking at her,” Erwin blurted. And he really was _such _an idiot--

“I’m gay, I was looking at you.” 

Erwin felt all his blood go hot, felt stunned into complete, mind numbing shock, and, and a pleasure that raced through him so violently he might have _groaned _at it if he hadn’t been trying to convince himself Levi hadn’t said what Erwin thought he said.

But there was nothing for it. No way to replay those words to mean something else.

“Oh, thank god.” 

“Uh. What?” 

“Fuck, that was driving me crazy,I mean, I got a _vibe, _but I guess it could have been more of like, wishful thinking or--”

And on they went until Erwin couldn’t take it anymore, until his heart was sprinting more quickly than if they’d gotten stuck hung upside down on a loop instead of inside a box on rails and he couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t--

“Hey, do you wanna make out?” 

It was good. 

It was _good, _it was _so good, _it was everything Erwin had ever been missing and wanting and he’d kissed plenty of girls, really, but never, it had _never _felt like this, and he’d never wanted _so much--_

“Wow.” He whispered it, gave himself away, couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t hide how much that had meant to him. He’d spent so long denying how much he wanted this, keeping it from himself, and it felt. 

It was _so good._

They spent the day together. 

Levi’s friends and Erwin’s. Erwin tried to recall, later, how it all went, and all he had was a vague, sunny sort of feeling. 

Nile was annoyed, at first, but Levi’s friends were… surprising. 

They were all more outgoing than he was. Hanji was exuberant about every ride, and knew the science behind them better than Erwin’s book did. Petra was hopelessly charming. Moblit and Eld were quieter, but they gave Erwin the impression of steadfast loyalty. 

They were all, every one of them, clearly devoted to Levi. When he said something biting and sarcastic, they listened. When he offered a suggestion for what they should do next, they deferred to him. 

That was the part that surprised Erwin the most, they way they all followed Levi’s lead. Erwin wasn’t even sure Levi realized the ways his friends followed him, which was all the more telling for Erwin because they were also clearly not the type of people who followed any one easily. They seemed a rag tag, individual sort of group. Erwin couldn’t quite find the common thread between them, unless it was Levi himself. 

By late evening, Erwin knew Nile and Marie were confused and concerned. Levi’s friends all clearly knew what _Levi _was about, and of course, Mike and Nan had picked up on everything. They all kept coming up with excuses to leave Levi and Erwin alone. And Nile kept ruining their carefully laid plans, kept calling Erwin over and away, just generally being completely clueless. 

It made Erwin’s stomach feel too tight, made his skin creep because he certainly hadn’t intended to _come out _to Nile _or _Marie today, but being around Levi was. It was hard to keep it all in. Erwin wanted to _hold his hand. _He didn’t. He wasn’t sure Levi would even let him. But he _wanted _to. 

And he knew the way he was looking at Levi-- 

How could they not _notice? _

They wound up in the carnival area around dusk, and little pieces of the larger group split off to play games. 

Erwin and all his friends, and Levi and Petra, all wandered over to the plate break game. 

“I’m good at this,” Erwin announced. 

Levi scoffed. “No one is _good _at these, they’re rigged.” 

“You think?” Erwin asked. 

“Course,” Levi said with a shrug. “The balls aren’t heavy enough and the plates are too stiff.” 

Erwin pulled a face and before he could speak, Nile interjected, “Bet I can win that unicorn.” He looked at Marie. “Just for you, baby.” 

Levi’s eyes flipped up to the white unicorn hanging from the top of that stall and said, “Oo, the unicorn?” 

Erwin wasn’t sure Nile caught the sarcasm, but he and Mike did.

“Yeah,” Nile said. “If they’re so _rigged,” _he added with a smug look at Levi. 

Marie was smiling and blushing and said, “You don’t have to, baby, no one ever wins these things--” 

“No, I can do it,” Nile said loudly. “I play first base, I can break a _plastic plate.” _

Levi waved his arm in a little _be my guest _motion and Nile stepped up to buy five balls. 

The first shattered the plate he was aiming at. 

Levi said to Erwin, “Didn’t you say you play baseball?” 

“Uh huh,” Erwin said with a nod, watching as Nile whiffed the second ball entirely. Mike whistled at him. 

“What position do you play?” 

“I pitch,” Erwin replied, a little absently this time. Nile had clipped the third plate, but he only cracked it. 

“Huh.” Levi said. 

Mike cleared his throat a little, and Erwin turned away to look at him just as Nile broke a second plate, and missed the last throw. 

Mike’s eyes were trained on Nile almost innocently, and when Erwin looked back, the park worker was retrieving a small unicorn for Marie. 

Nile threw his arm around her while she happily squeezed her unicorn, and then gave Levi a smug, self satisfied look when he said, “Rigged right?” 

“Huh,” Levi drawled, and there was something. Odd. In his voice. Something almost.. Dangerous. “Maybe this one’s legit. Let’s see.” 

Petra, who had been deep in conversation with Nan about volleyball, turned suddenly and yelled, “Hey, guys, Levi’s gonna play!” 

Nile and Mike laughed as Levi stepped up to the box. “Damn, get an audience,” Mike said. 

Levi shrugged, an odd little expression on his face. 

He ordered five balls, and proceeded to absolutely demolish all five targets. 

By the time he was done, Nile, Mike, and Erwin were all staring at him in open mouthed shock. He’d done it so quickly, Erwin hadn’t even seen him _aim. _

Levi very calmly pointed at the big unicorn, and then Erwin’s friends seemed to come unstuck and all started talking at once-- _Levi’s _friends just cheered the whole time, not the slightest bit surprised. 

“That was-- holy _shit--” _Mike said. 

“How fast do you throw?” Nan demanded. 

“Wait, were those the same balls I got?” Nile asked. 

“Erwin can’t even throw like that,” Marie announced. 

“You didn’t tell me you played!” Erwin said. 

Levi looked at Erwin. 

“You play baseball?” Erwin went on. “You’re a fucking pitcher and you didn’t tell me?” 

Levi looked Erwin in the eye, which was already a little strange since he didn’t do it often, and said offhandedly, “Yeah, sure, I pitch sometimes. Under the right circumstances.” 

Mike coughed again, slammed his hand against his chest, and then covered his mouth. 

Levi looked at him, dead pan, and said, “You alright there, man?” 

“Yeah. Fine, I’m fine,” Mike half gasped. “Nan, let’s play the fucking-- the ring-- thing. Over here.” Nan and Marie both turned to go, and Mike grabbed Nile by the back of the neck when he went, dragging him along behind him. 

Erwin watched them all go in a distracted sort of haze, tried to pinpoint exactly why they were all breaking off, and then turned back to Levi.

The second he looked at him, he replayed what Levi had just said in his head, felt his cheeks get hot in understanding. 

Levi silently held out the massive unicorn. 

His friends had gone too. They were. Alone again. 

“Look, I won you a prize.” 

Erwin didn’t know what to say to that. Accepting the ridiculous thing felt... Well… ridiculous. 

But there was also a certain… 

Levi had won him a prize. 

“What, you don’t like it?” Levi demanded. 

“I. Um.” 

Levi rolled his eyes, and then looked around. No one was paying them any attention. It was getting dark, and very soon, they’d all get back on their buses and go home. 

It would all be over. 

Levi jerked his chin away toward the path that lead away from this area and muttered, “Come on.”

So Erwin went. He looked surreptitiously over his shoulder, and then followed Levi out, stuck close to his side. 

“Where are we going?” 

“This way.” 

Erwin followed him, and after a few seconds, a massive wooden wall loomed into view. They’d passed it earlier, and it was emblazoned with a graphic for a new roller coaster that was being installed, along with the words, _Coming next summer! _

There was a little ice cream vendor stationed nearby, but she was looking in the opposite direction, and it was dark enough now that it was hard to see at a distance.

Levi grabbed Erwin’s hand. 

He grabbed Erwin’s hand, and Erwin didn’t even remember slipping through a little gap in the construction barricade, around a very large and very obvious ‘Employees only’ sign, and behind the wall. 

They were alone. 

They were alone, it was quiet, and dark, and Levi turned and gave Erwin a wicked grin that Erwinalmost couldn’t see in the dark. 

There were no words. Erwin didn’t need any. 

They came together like an inevitability, and Erwin realized he’d been waiting all day for the chance to catch Levi alone again. 

They stumbled far enough away from the wall that they couldn’t be heard, or bump into it accidentally. Levi dropped his massive stuffed animal and then fell to the ground, pulled Erwin down after him. 

Erwin hit his knees, pressed his mouth to Levi’s again, and his whole body lit up. The day felt foggy, like a blissful dream he was already forgetting, but this, this felt more real than anything ever had, was all dragged into hyperfocus by the way Levi touched him. 

Erwin realized Levi’s hands were all over him, and he was just letting Levi pet him, making sharp encouraging noises. Somehow, Levi wound up in Erwin lap, knees on either side of Erwin’s thigh, with his hand twisted in the collar of Erwin’s shirt while Levi kissed him. 

Levi pulled back and said, “You ever got your dick sucked?” 

Erwin froze again, stared in absolute shock, desire so strong it was ringing in his ears. “Yeah--no-- like, like ever?” 

Levi raised his brows and dropped his hands to the button on Erwin’s jeans. Erwin was already so hard it was making him dizzy, felt like he’d spent most of the day at half mast already and now Levi was _looking _at him like that and-- and _unbottoning his jeans, fuck he was--_

“Once or twice,” Erwin managed in an overwhelmed little huff, as if he didn’t know that he’d had his dick sucked exactly four and a half times (half because it had only lasted for a few seconds before the girl in question decided she didn’t want to after all and they’d gone back to watching their movie in Erwin’s den). 

Levi smirked at him, and unzipped Erwin’s jeans while their eyes were locked. 

“Fuck.” 

It had never happened this fast before. Probably in part because Erwin hadn’t exactly pursued those ends, had let his girlfriends lead things where they wanted. He’d thought for a long time he was just being a gentlemen but now, as Levi yanked Erwin’s waistband down, and Erwin’s breathing got heavy, he realized he hadn’t known what it felt like to really _want_. This was-- he felt like his skin was on fire, like everywhere Levi touched was left charged and waiting for another brush of skin to set it off again. 

Levi rubbed his palm over the hard bulge under Erwin’s underwear, and made a low, appreciative noise that Erwin would never forget; he was certain of it. 

Levi peeled down the band of his boxer briefs next, didn’t waste any time, and Erwin managed to stutter, “Have, have you--”

“Gotten my dick sucked?” Levi said coyly, going down on his elbows, settling over Erwin’s knees. 

“Yes--er-- n-no, sucked--”

Levi’s lips twisted in amusement and he said, “Guess.” 

Erwin didn’t think anything at all after that because all at once, Levi was pressing his lips down over the head of Erwin’s cock, enveloping him in impossible heat, and the sharp, keening sound of surprise Erwin made made Levi pull back and stare at him. 

“Don’t--” Erwin began, gasping. 

Levi frowned at him. “I shouldn’t--”

“No, no, don’t _stop,” _Erwin blurted. 

Levi smiled at him. 

He smiled that fucking smile again, and sank back down, and Erwin had never made a sound like this in his life but holy fucking shit fuck god fucking there was a beautiful gorgeous incredible boy with his lips wrapped around Erwin’s _cock, _Erwin was gonna come down his fucking throat and this morning he’d been wondering if he should maybe tell his dad he wouldn’t be bringing any more girls home, maybe considering saying the words _I’m gay _outloud in more than just hushed whispers and now there was _Levi _and Erwin was--

“Uh, uh, you-- _fuck_ing-- I’m--” 

Levi snickered at him, the sound muted by how full his mouth was. 

“Oh my _god, _that feels so good,” Erwin said almost hysterically, voice going high and shocked, a startled laugh following his words. “Oh my _god.” _

Levi looked up at him from under long lashes, and even in the dark, Erwin could see the silver of his eyes, shining in amusement and overt satisfaction. 

Erwin almost forgot to tell Levi _when, _almost got so lost in the hot, wet feel of Levi’s mouth wrapped around his cock that he just--

“Oh, oh fuck, I--” 

He tapped Levi’s shoulder a little frantically, and Levi sat up, pulled away just as Erwin’s mind blanked out and all he knew was the scorching rush of pleasure that crashed over him. 

Levi curled his hand around the head of Erwin’s cock, stroked him through it, wet Erwin’s dick with his own come. 

“Oh, fuck,” Erwin said first, between shocked gasps. 

That had all happened… so quickly, and he didn’t know--

“You’re amazing,” he gushed, and knew the second the words left his lips that he probably sounded like a crazy person, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care. It was true. Levi was amazing. “You’re. _Fuck, _your _so hot,” _he added, very ineloquently around another hysterical laugh. 

Levi’s eyes glimmered with mischief and amusement, and he said, “You think so?” 

“Can I watch you jerk off, _please?” _Erwin blurted, still speaking unthinkingly, still saying the first thing that popped into his head while he floated down from the high Levi had left him with. 

Levi’s expression went surprised, pleased maybe, and Erwin didn’t even have it in him to blush when he realized what he’d said. 

“You wanna watch me jerk off?” 

Erwin blinked at him and then nodded. 

Levi was still trailing his fingers around the head of Erwin’s cock, hand wet with come, and he looked down at it before he met Erwin’s eyes again and said, “I have an idea.” 

“W--Uh. What? What idea?” Erwin asked, trepidation making him a little slow. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try sucking Levi off, wasn’t sure he was ready for that-- he could. He could use his hands though, right? He could do that, that was easy, he did that to himself all the time--

Levi licked his lips and unbuttoned his jeans with his clean hand, eyes locked on Erwin’s. 

He didn’t answer, just pulled his own cock from his pants and started stroking himself with--

Jesus christ. 

He was. With his other hand, just-- _Erwin’s come--_

“You gonna come again?” Levi said, voice low and goading. 

“I-- fuck, I might.” 

“Pinch your knees together,” Levi told him, tapping Erwin’s thigh with his free hand. 

Erwin did, and Levi crawled up over him slowly, urged him back down on the ground, back against the ridiculous carnival game prize. He stretched out over Erwin’s chest, straining for a kiss. Erwin had to bend his neck to reach but he did, and this was-- this was even better. 

Levi was slim and muscular, strong enough that Erwin could feel it in the coiled press of his limbs. 

Erwin kissed him again, and again, and Levi sighed softly against his lips before he positioned himself to--

Erwin swallowed thickly when Levi pressed the tip of his cock between Erwin’s legs, sighed to himself, made a soft, happy little moan when he lifted his hips and dragged his come-slick cock along the inside of Erwin’s thighs. 

“Jesus,” Erwin breathed. 

“Do you know any other words?” Levi said, probably trying to sound smug but just sounding breathless. 

“Not right now. Does. Does that feel good?”

“Mm,” Levi moaned back at him and then grinned, he _grinned _when he said, “You have such fuckable thighs.” 

Erwin didn’t have the capacity to reply to that. Levi’s thin hips were pressing Erwin’s cock to his belly, and he-- he-- Erwin had almost been _afraid _to stare at Levi’s cock, had torn his eyes from it so quickly he might not have-- but he was fairly certain Levi was bigger than Erwin would have expected. He could _feel _it, could feel the thick, hot press of him against hyper sensitive skin and Erwin suddenly pictured Levi putting his mouth there, kissing Erwin all over before he did _this, _again and again until they both--

Erwin curled forward, tried to reach Levi with his mouth again, because Levi really was fairly short and this wasn’t the best position for them to reach each other--

Levi sighed, grabbed the collar of Erwin’s shirt and yanked it down all in one quick motion, locked his lips over Erwin’s nipple and sucked while his free hand slid _under _Erwin’s shirt and he started rubbing his fingers over the other nipple and Erwin was going to come all over both of them, again, there was no way he could take much more of this--

Levi’s shallow thrusts got a little faster, his breathing got harder. He bit down and Erwin arched against him, arms wrapped around his back and crying out before he felt the hot, wet spill against his skin, the way Levi’s cock throbbed and pulsed as he came. 

Levi was quiet through it-- Erwin was the one who moaned, who held him too tight and hissed, “Oh fuck, yeah--” 

Levi was quiet. He just went still and tight, pulsing cock the only part of him still moving except for the way he trembled. 

Erwin held him too tightly for a boy he’d just met, clung to him, smelled his hair, let his come dry on Erwin’s skin. 

When his breath had started to even out, and without otherwise moving at all, Levi shoved his hand between them, wrapped it around Erwin’s cock again and it--

It didn’t take long at all. He was already there, just waiting for one more touch.

This time, Levi kept his mouth pressed to Erwin’s when Erwin came, kissed him through it and breathed into him and let Erwin _feel _him smile.

They laid together after that, quietly, listening to the not so distant sounds of the park behind them. Levi broke the silence when he said, “Sorry I was such a fucker earlier.” 

“I think you made up for it,” Erwin said pointedly. He was sure he’d remember the heat of Levi’s mouth wrapped around him until the day he died. 

Levi laughed, mumbled, “Yeah. I guess.” 

Only the shortest moment passed before Levi pulled away, disentangled himself from Erwin’s arms and legs. 

Erwin’s heart broke a little when he had to let him go. 

“We should, uh, you know. Get back.” 

“How long have we been gone?” Erwin said a little more sharply than he meant to. He’d almost forgotten that there would be people looking for him. 

Levi pulled out his phone and winced. “Only like twenty minutes, but Hanji texted me and said they’re all going toward the front gate.” 

Erwin winced too, and did his best to wipe the come off his legs and belly before he pulled his underwear and his jeans back up from around his knees. He didn’t do a very good job; he felt sticky and used and was surprised by how unbothered the feeling left him. 

Levi pocketed his phone, and dusted himself off and headed back toward the barricade, only pausing to watch Erwin pick the unicorn up off the ground. 

Erwin watched him hide a smile. 

“You won it for me, right?” Erwin demanded. 

“Yeah,” Levi said. “Yeah. Just for you.” 

~*~*~

They were halfway to the front gate when Erwin threaded his fingers through Levi’s. 

Levi felt shock course through his body, and he wasn’t sure what surprised him more-- that Erwin wanted to hold his hand or that Levi wanted him to. 

He looked back and said quietly, “You sure?” 

Erwin gave him a weak smile and nodded. 

Levi tried not to stare at him. 

The collar of his white shirt was all stretched out. His hair was a mess, and his cheeks were still flushed and there was the tiniest hint of a hickey disappearing into his shirt. 

He looked like Levi’s own personal wet dream. 

Levi felt a little sick about it. 

They found Hanji first, who grinned and then looked at their interlocked hands and then grinned some more. But before they could get to Hanji, a familiar, grating voice said, “_There _you are, we were looking all--” 

Levi turned his head, felt Erwin whip around without letting his hand go. 

Nile was staring at them, mouth open, eyes locked on-- on both of them. 

Levi tried to let Erwin’s hand go, but Erwin wouldn’t let him. 

Nile said, “Oh. _Oh. _You. _Oh.” _

Levi said, “Oh.” 

_Now, _Erwin gave Levi an apologetic sort of glance and let Levi’s hand go so he could step forward and say, “I-- listen--” 

“No, you don’t have to-- it’s fine, no, no _really, _Erwin, I’m not-- but does Marie-- I mean-- Mike. Mike--”

“Mike knows,” Erwin said quietly. “And Nan.” 

“But not…” 

“No. And just. Uh. Just. You all.” 

Hanji grabbed Levi by the arm and said softly, “We really need to get back to the bus, Levi, we were supposed to be loaded on ten minutes ago.” 

Levi swallowed. 

“So if you can just--”

“You gotta tell her, man,” Nile said. 

“I know.” 

“Hey,” Levi interrupted. They both looked at him. “I gotta, you know.” He jerked his head toward the exit, stomach in knots. He didn’t want the day to end. 

Erwin nodded, and glanced at Nile before he stepped back toward Levi. Nile waited for him, didn’t give them space.

Erwin said all in a rush, “Can I have your number?” 

And for some reason, that shocked Levi. He’d expected to go on his way, to never see Erwin again, that Erwin would just be the perfect boy he’d met on an almost perfect day the one time he got to go to a theme park. Like a fairytale. Levi had never been much for fairytales but he thought maybe he could have just one. Just this once. 

But Erwin wanted his number. 

“Unless. Unless you don’t,” Erwin said, cheeks going red. 

“Fuck, yeah,” Levi said quickly. He took Erwin’s phone from his hands and texted himself. “You. Isn’t Shina Academy kinda, kinda far from--” 

Erwin smiled at him. “I live like thirty minutes from Chika Central.” 

Levi blinked in shock. “You. You do?” 

“Yeah, my dad and I have a long drive to school.” 

“Oh.” Levi smiled. 

“Yeah.” Erwin smiled back. 

Hanji yelled Levi’s name at the same time that Nile said, “Well, isn’t that sweet.” 

“I’ll still kick your ass,” Levi informed him. 

Nile shrugged, and Levi rolled his eyes, flipped him the bird before he met Erwin’s eyes one last time. 

Erwin was still smiling, creating a little fork in the stream of students rushing for the exits. 

Levi turned and left him standing there, a stupid, foolishly hopeful grin on his face. 

Hanji waited until they were settled into their seats to demand what happened, and the second Levi opened his mouth, his phone buzzed. 

He looked down, saw a text from an unsaved number, and his blood _sang. _

He opened it up and found a picture. 

Erwin must have purchased a rollercoaster photo when Levi wasn’t looking. In the image on his phone, Levi could see Erwin’s fingers curled around the edge of the physical, wallet sized picture he’d bought. 

It was the third big ride Levi had gone on, and he, Erwin, Mike, Nan, and Hanji had all fit in one single file row. 

He showed Hanji, a strange giddiness building in his chest. He didn’t pose for photos pretty much ever, and when he did, he certainly didn’t smile. But he was smiling here. The photo had snapped just after they’d done a loop and Levi hadn’t been able to stop laughing. It had felt almost like flying. 

A text immediately followed the photo. 

It read simply, _So what are you doing Saturday?_

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all this fic was supposed to be SHORT but I just loved this AU and this concept so much I couldn't stop writing it!
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please come say 'hi' to me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/ellabesmirched) :D 
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH to memoirs_of_a for giving me the opportunity to write this prompt! It was SUCH a cute concept and I'm just in love with the idea of Levi and Erwin wandering around a theme park together. Few things have ever struck me as so heart achingly cute. Thank you SO MUCH, my friend, I hope you enjoyed my take on this story! <3


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